Staff photo / Brad Emerine Canfield’s Brent Herrman, center, boxes out Harding’s Johnny Graham trying to get a rebound. The Cardinals dropped a 68-59 decision to the Raiders on Tuesday.

WARREN — After losing four consecutive games, the Warren G. Harding boys basketball team apparently got hungry for wins.

On Tuesday night, the Raiders whet their appetite, “munching” up visiting Canfield 68-59 in the All-American Conference, Red Tier opener for both schools.

Harding senior D’Muntize Owens, who is known as “Munch” around schools and in basketball circles, devoured the Cardinals by scoring 32 points.

“That’s what we saw him do all summer long and it’s nice to see him come out and light it up like we know he can,” said Harding coach Keelyn Franklin, whose team won its fifth straight contest to improve to 8-4 overall. “He got it started early and his confidence kept growing.”

He also finished with five assists.

“Munch is a tremendous athlete and prolific player,” Canfield coach Todd Muckleroy said. “It wasn’t just his 32 points, but the way he lifted the players around him tonight. We had to try to stop him and that opened things for other guys and he got them the ball when they were open.

“I’m looking at the book and (Emari Burgess, Tye Pennington, Kemare Evans and Johnny Graham) were solid contributors because of the focus we had to place on Munch. That’s what great players do, lift those around them.”

Owens made four 3-pointers in the first quarter, all after Canfield opened with a 6-5 lead. By the end of the blitz, the Raiders were ahead 21-8 entering the second period.

“I’ve got my confidence back,” Owens said. “I need to stayed focused and keep trying to do what I can so that we can execute as a team. I was just locked in and trying to control the pace for my teammates. They kept moving the ball until it got back to me. It felt like they wanted me to take the shots and I had them, and they were going in.

“But to be a leader, I’ve got to help my teammates find good shots. If defenses are going to come after me, I’ve got to keep my head up and find them in open spaces. We’re rolling now, but need to play day-by-day, not just in games, but in practices. We’ve got it going and we need to do what we can to keep it going.”

Canfield charged back in the second quarter, with Joe Bruno leading the way with eight points in a 13-5 run that was capped by a 3-pointer from Trey Dye. A pair of free throws by Brent Herman got Canfield within 32-30 with 7.6 seconds left in the half. However, Owens made a pair of his own free throws following a technical foul and he then found Burgess in the right corner for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the Raiders into the locker room with momentum and a 37-30 lead.

“I think we lost that game right there, at that point,” Muckleroy said. “The end of the second quarter and beginning of the third quarter just put us in a bind. It’s tough to recover against a hot-shooting team that is so quick they’re hard to trap. Harding also passes the ball well and shares it well.”

The Raiders outscored their guests 24-12 from 3-point range, making eight of 14 long-range tries. Canfield was 4 for 18 behind the arc.

“I thought we got great contributions from everyone,” Franklin said. “We had one guy get a lot of points, but everyone we put out there was giving us positive energy, especially defensively. I thought our team defense was very strong and that’s what we hang our hats on.

“Defense is about mental toughness and the kids have proven that lately. We’re mentally tougher than a few weeks ago. During the losing streak, we were down as a team and as a staff. But we kept champing at the bit and have turned it around.”

Muckleroy also noted Harding’s defensive play.

“They presented troubles for offensively,” he said. “They’re so quick and aggressive defensively and they get their hands on a lot of balls and just make passing difficult. We were starting our offense out close the halfcourt and that’s just never good.”

The Raiders opened the second half with a 7-0 surge in the first 50 seconds, as Owens and Evans nailed 3-pointers and Graham added a bucket to make it 45-30.

The Cardinals trailed 55-47 after three quarters and got as close as 58-52 with 5:36 remaining in the contest.

“We kept chipping away and never gave up and I’m very proud of the boys for that,” Muckleroy said. “They could’ve lost focus after the way the third period began, but they hung right there and battled. Plus, we had perhaps our best scoring balance that we’ve had in quite some time.”

Bruno scored 13 points to lead Canfield. Herrmann finished with 12 points and Dye and Jake Kowal both scored 11. Brayden Beck scored eight.

Burgess finished with nine points and Pennington added six for Harding.